How to Build a Strong Team Culture: Top 7 Tips
Dec 7

The strength and quality of a company’s team culture has far-reaching and impactful effects on everything from its success and profitability to the perception of its brand in the marketplace.
But building and sustaining a positive team culture goes beyond just hiring, training, and retaining people with great skills.
It’s both an art and a science, but the rewards are compelling and well worth the investment in your time, energy, and resources.
In this article, we’ll outline what team culture is, why it matters, and seven actionable steps you can take to ensure that yours is a winning and resilient one.
But building and sustaining a positive team culture goes beyond just hiring, training, and retaining people with great skills.
It’s both an art and a science, but the rewards are compelling and well worth the investment in your time, energy, and resources.
In this article, we’ll outline what team culture is, why it matters, and seven actionable steps you can take to ensure that yours is a winning and resilient one.
What Is a Team Culture?
Academic definitions aside, company and team culture essentially embody how the people in your organization feel about working together, including their actions and attitudes towards one another.
The nature of this culture influences the behavior of teams and groups while informing what is deemed acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
The nature of this culture influences the behavior of teams and groups while informing what is deemed acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
The Importance of Building a Team Culture
We all know the phrase, “no man is an island.” And it couldn’t be more relevant in the modern world of work. In our digital, always-on business environment, the quality and frequency of connections between colleagues couldn’t be more important or fragile.
With many people now working remotely or in geographically dispersed teams, ensuring mutually constructive, productive, and respectful professional relationships within an organization takes on even greater significance.
Without positive teamwork, the job won’t get done – or at least to the required quality standards and within the desired timeframes. And if that happens, you’ll pay the price through poor customer experience and diminished revenues.
With many people now working remotely or in geographically dispersed teams, ensuring mutually constructive, productive, and respectful professional relationships within an organization takes on even greater significance.
Without positive teamwork, the job won’t get done – or at least to the required quality standards and within the desired timeframes. And if that happens, you’ll pay the price through poor customer experience and diminished revenues.
How to Build a Great Team Culture
The thing to remember about team culture is that it’s an intangible asset and one that can’t be bought or “faked.” You have to be prepared to put in the work.
In our years of experience working with clients of various sizes and industries, Ideal Outcomes has identified seven critical steps to building strong team cultures.
In our years of experience working with clients of various sizes and industries, Ideal Outcomes has identified seven critical steps to building strong team cultures.
1. Define your Ideal Team Culture
It’s impossible to build the team culture you seek if you don’t know what it looks like. So, the fundamental first step is organizing your thoughts. Document the kinds of team dynamics, behaviors, and outcomes you want to instill and sustain.
Collaborating with and gathering feedback from stakeholders from all levels in the organization are vital parts of this step. You need to give people a “seat at the table” in these discussions if you hope to win their support and enthusiasm for your culture-building efforts.
Collaborating with and gathering feedback from stakeholders from all levels in the organization are vital parts of this step. You need to give people a “seat at the table” in these discussions if you hope to win their support and enthusiasm for your culture-building efforts.
2. Learn from the Best
In crafting your team culture objectives, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel entirely. Research some companies that have set the gold marketplace standard in this area. For example, read up on the successes of companies like Google, Southwest Airlines, and Zappos.
Of course, every business is different. However, these organizations’ thinking and approaches will likely provide you with valuable food for thought when contemplating and formulating your strategy.
Of course, every business is different. However, these organizations’ thinking and approaches will likely provide you with valuable food for thought when contemplating and formulating your strategy.
3. Create a Roadmap and Set Goals
Once you know what success looks like, you need to document and communicate your plan to all stakeholders and team members.
An essential part of this process is setting realistic, actionable, and achievable goals and milestones to measure your progress objectively. If you don’t formalize and share a simple scoreboard, people in your organization will make up their own ways of measuring success.
An essential part of this process is setting realistic, actionable, and achievable goals and milestones to measure your progress objectively. If you don’t formalize and share a simple scoreboard, people in your organization will make up their own ways of measuring success.
4. Lead by Example
Individuals and teams don’t exist in a vacuum. As a leader, it’s important to remember that people pay special attention to your words and actions. So, start as you mean to go on. Take care to demonstrate the desired teamwork attitudes and behaviors at all times when interacting with your executive colleagues and all other employees, irrespective of their level of seniority.Normal text.
If people don’t feel that the team culture agenda is genuine and taken seriously by those in the upper echelons of the organization, it’s unlikely that the broader employee base will pay more than basic lip service to it.
If people don’t feel that the team culture agenda is genuine and taken seriously by those in the upper echelons of the organization, it’s unlikely that the broader employee base will pay more than basic lip service to it.
5. Set and Enforce a Zero-Tolerance Policy
Building a winning team culture requires being explicit about what constitutes unacceptable behavior. It’s critical to be consistent when enforcing these norms and being unafraid to call out people or teams who act contrary to them.
Examples of behavior that should never be tolerated include:
Examples of behavior that should never be tolerated include:
- Any racial, age, or gender-based discrimination
- Foul or abusive language to another team member
- Gossiping
- Dishonesty or non-accountability among any team members
6. Embrace Diversity
The wisdom of ensuring that diversity is at the core of your team culture strategy is well-understood for several reasons.
First, in our hyper-competitive digital world, embracing diversity in its broadest sense – in terms of ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, experience, and personality type – creates a fertile ground on which to build agile and innovative teams that can accelerate change. Employees will approach the same problems through a different lens based on their life experiences. Teams made up of people with different professional backgrounds and experiences tend to develop stronger plans.
Secondly, as part of your hiring strategy, it’s a good idea to look for a mix of outgoing extroverts and thoughtful introverts. Both types of people see the world differently and respond to similar situations in different ways.
First, in our hyper-competitive digital world, embracing diversity in its broadest sense – in terms of ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, experience, and personality type – creates a fertile ground on which to build agile and innovative teams that can accelerate change. Employees will approach the same problems through a different lens based on their life experiences. Teams made up of people with different professional backgrounds and experiences tend to develop stronger plans.
Secondly, as part of your hiring strategy, it’s a good idea to look for a mix of outgoing extroverts and thoughtful introverts. Both types of people see the world differently and respond to similar situations in different ways.
7. Establish a “Culture Committee”
Culture committees can aid in establishing and maintaining a strong team or company culture in several ways. For example, they can articulate and demonstrate acceptable behaviors. They can also create and support recognition programs and celebrations as your organization sees cultural change successes.
Such committee members help increase accountability to defined cultural aspirations at all levels. In fact, they become culture champions, role models, and sustainment agents for the whole organization.
Culture committee team members also become your eyes and ears on the ground. They can lead employee discussions, lead focus groups, and generally create buy-in for what you want to accomplish.
Such committee members help increase accountability to defined cultural aspirations at all levels. In fact, they become culture champions, role models, and sustainment agents for the whole organization.
Culture committee team members also become your eyes and ears on the ground. They can lead employee discussions, lead focus groups, and generally create buy-in for what you want to accomplish.
Benefits of Building a Strong Team Culture
Ultimately, a strong team culture equates to a more loyal, productive, and happy workforce.
Equally, the absence of one will have the opposite outcomes. Business leaders who fail to acknowledge the importance of a strong team culture and work to develop one will soon experience the effects as employee churn increases and productivity decreases.
If you’re seeking support and guidance in building a great workplace culture and communicating it to all team members, Ideal Outcomes stands ready to help.
Our experts provide organizational development consulting, change implementation, talent management, coaching, diversity and inclusion, and cultural integration to businesses of all sizes.
If you’d like to find out more about how we can help, please get in touch.
Equally, the absence of one will have the opposite outcomes. Business leaders who fail to acknowledge the importance of a strong team culture and work to develop one will soon experience the effects as employee churn increases and productivity decreases.
If you’re seeking support and guidance in building a great workplace culture and communicating it to all team members, Ideal Outcomes stands ready to help.
Our experts provide organizational development consulting, change implementation, talent management, coaching, diversity and inclusion, and cultural integration to businesses of all sizes.
If you’d like to find out more about how we can help, please get in touch.
Our vision is to help people live more authentic and fulfilling lives by guiding the
organizations they are a part of.

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Ideal Outcomes, Inc., 13004 Cake Bread Heights, Colorado Springs, CO 80921
“My passion is to share what I’ve discovered during my long career working with incredible leaders around the world. My mission is to apply the lessons I’ve learned to my life, my team members’ lives, and my clients’ business challenges. I believe you don’t learn if you remain stationary. This is why I continue to dedicate my life and career to never-ending continuous improvement.”
Jason is an in-demand keynote speaker, widely recognized as a noted authority on helping companies build strong, sustained revenue growth by empowering their employees and developing energizing office cultures.
During his career of more than twenty years, Jason has assisted companies of all sizes in a wide variety of industries. He has not only worked closely with established Fortune 100 companies to create Leadership Development Journeys, but also provided thought leadership and innovative consulting services to a range of mid-size firms. And he has guided numerous start-ups to build solid foundations that have enabled them to become noted industry leaders.
Jason has become a valued resource for many organizations, helping them implement talent development paths, culture maps, succession plans, and learning strategies. He has captured best practices from successful organizations and integrated them into the core principles that form the foundation of Ideal Outcomes.
During his career of more than twenty years, Jason has assisted companies of all sizes in a wide variety of industries. He has not only worked closely with established Fortune 100 companies to create Leadership Development Journeys, but also provided thought leadership and innovative consulting services to a range of mid-size firms. And he has guided numerous start-ups to build solid foundations that have enabled them to become noted industry leaders.
Jason has become a valued resource for many organizations, helping them implement talent development paths, culture maps, succession plans, and learning strategies. He has captured best practices from successful organizations and integrated them into the core principles that form the foundation of Ideal Outcomes.
“I specialize in uniting teams and establishing leaders within different companies. My passion for helping people grow is what drives me, and my ability to bring out the best in employees has led me on a path to change people’s lives and the organizations they serve for the better.”
Laura Nortz engages with key stakeholders to design solutions that result in consistent skills, behaviors, and language among teams to ultimately create a unified and energized organizational culture.
In addition, she takes a primary role researching and developing leadership trainings, formal presentations, coaching and customer service with companies of all sizes. Laura has worked closely with leadership teams in a wide variety of industries in countries throughout the world that include Italy, Germany, the UK, Sweden, the Philippines, China, Australia, Canada, and the US and British Virgin Islands.
“As a Certified Master Trainer at Ideal Outcomes, I play an active role developing long-term vision for my clients and identifying future goals for my team. I push individuals to feel comfortable doing uncomfortable things in order to bring out a client’s true potential while challenging my team in ways that provokes creative thinking.”
Sheila McVeigh has been in the business performance improvement field for 24 years. She is a licensed and certified multi-course Dale Carnegie® Trainer. She is also a certified Master Trainer, licensed to lead the certification process to license trainers for Dale Carnegie programs.
Sheila has conducted customized training for over 300 organizations that include AAA, Campbell Soup, Carrier, Comcast, conEdison, Department of Defense, Discover Financial, Experian, EP Henry, Google, HouseMaster, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Motorola, Paychex, Red Bull, ShopRite Supermarkets, and many others.
“My passion is helping clients and their employees realize their full potential. I focus on being a value-added resource for them and my team with the goal of helping them exceed their own expectations.
Jeanne Kerr has had an extensive professional career working closely with client leadership teams in a wide array of industries to ensure they articulate and execute culture and people strategies that match the vision they have for their company. Jeanne often describes this process by stating that putting the right people in the right seats is not enough. The key is building a better bus.
Her primary areas of expertise include cultural change, strategic planning, organizational development, leadership development, change management, business partner development, assessments, HR analytics, and succession planning.
“My motivation has always been to serve---my country and its partners, clients, class members, leaders, and teams. My diverse professional background--sales, military, state and federal government employee, business owner and leader make me a uniquely-qualified trainer.”
Jennifer has more than 20 years expertise in training executives, managers, supervisors, senior military officers and their civilian counterparts. She became a certified Dale Carnegie® trainer in 2000 and continued to deliver training during her 20-year military career. Her clients include AAA, Discover, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, Starbucks, Pfizer, Cisco, the World Bank, D.C. government and many federal government agencies.
A retired Air Force colonel, Jennifer served as a Public Relations Officer, training general officers and senior Department of Defense civilians to develop and deliver messages to Congress, national and international news media and the public. As a consultant she created strategic and tactical communication plans and developed a training and coaching program for the Saudi Arabian Military Office of Defense.
“My passion is connecting people with each other to bring success for everyone involved. I love the challenge of breaking down barriers, building communication, and helping people find a passion for what they do. As a lifelong learner, I help individuals and organizations kindle their internal spark.”
Nikki has 36 years of industry experience in 24 countries including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, China and Russia. A dynamic global speaker, trainer, and coach she assists clients build and sustain cultures that create alignment and trust impacting productivity, engagement and bottom-line results. A lifelong learner, she utilizes NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) skills to help individuals make immediate and impactful changes in their professional and personal lives.
“I love exploring new technologies that will draw learners in and inspire them to build fresh knowledge and skills. I specialize in developing creative, fun eLearning that incorporates scenarios, games, and simulations and invites learners to be active participants.”
Barbara has extensive experience designing learning solutions for technology, healthcare, financial, and other industries. Her expertise lies in working with subject matter experts and creating engaging eLearning solutions that deliver measurable results. As a learning and development consultant, Barbara continues to provide online solutions for real-world problems.
"As a designer, I have the opportunity to bring ideas to life. Turning the vision of clients into deliverables each day is a challenge I love to undertake. I strive to make sure that each project meets the high standards set by Ideal Outcomes."
Nicholas Schmitt has 10 years of professional experience. Proficient in Adobe Indesign and Illustrator he works closely with instructional designers and clients to design and develop programs. Nick has had a lifelong passion for digital art and design and has created branding compliant custom program and engagement material for hundreds of clients of all sizes and industries bringing a fine attention to detail to every project.
Mike brings unique insights from the real world - as a Petroleum Engineer on offshore oil and gas drilling rigs, leader of the aerospace division of a British public company, and as a longtime CEO and Key Executive peer advisory group Chair and Speaker for Vistage Worldwide.
His first book, Wheel$pin: The Agile Executive's Manifesto (2011) asked the question, "why, despite all of our investments in our businesses (you name it, we do it), do we still experience a lot more wheel$pin than we should?" Which can cost us a $fortune! The answer: Agility, or rather a lack of agility. His second book, The 5 Roles of Everyday Agile Leaders: Cracking the Agility Code (to be released in 2022) asks the question, "Why, despite all of the Agile inspiration and insights we are now surrounded by, does Enterprise Agility remain as elusive as it has ever been for most leaders?" The answer: an unbroken agility code.
Alejandra Baker is a dynamic bilingual (English – Spanish) Corporate Trainer and Learning Consultant with over 15 years of experience working in multicultural environments, designing and facilitating programs that impact the productivity and performance of her clients.
Alejandra is experienced in helping companies develop an Innovative culture. She co-founded with her father The Innovation Way, a Mexican company specialized in Innovation Training and co-developed a proprietary methodology called “Generating Breakthrough Ideas: How to Recognize and Seize Opportunities for Disruptive Innovation”, providing services to leading Mexican companies such as Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc, Cemex, Tequila Cuervo, Hylsa as well as to small and medium sized businesses through Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology.
When she moved to the US, her passion to develop herself and bring out the best in others lead her to become certified in the Dale Carnegie Programs to develop human relations, communications & leadership skills.
Alejandra is an Advocate for Human rights and she also serves as Program Director for the i-5 Freedom Network, an Anti Human Trafficking Organization in Southern California.
She holds a Master of Science in Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science, with specialization in Knowledge Management; and a BS in International Business from the ITESM, in Mexico.
Alejandra is experienced in helping companies develop an Innovative culture. She co-founded with her father The Innovation Way, a Mexican company specialized in Innovation Training and co-developed a proprietary methodology called “Generating Breakthrough Ideas: How to Recognize and Seize Opportunities for Disruptive Innovation”, providing services to leading Mexican companies such as Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc, Cemex, Tequila Cuervo, Hylsa as well as to small and medium sized businesses through Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology.
When she moved to the US, her passion to develop herself and bring out the best in others lead her to become certified in the Dale Carnegie Programs to develop human relations, communications & leadership skills.
Alejandra is an Advocate for Human rights and she also serves as Program Director for the i-5 Freedom Network, an Anti Human Trafficking Organization in Southern California.
She holds a Master of Science in Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science, with specialization in Knowledge Management; and a BS in International Business from the ITESM, in Mexico.
Steve is passionate about impacting the quality of life of others by adding value through coaching, speaking and mentoring. Currently, he partners with organizations to solve business issues by developing their greatest asset, PEOPLE, through Dale Carnegie programs. In addition, he is the co-host of The 411 on Leadership Podcast which airs live on LinkedIn/YouTube/FB on Mondays (10am PST) - https://sitchradio.com/shows/the-411-on-leadership-podcast/
Steve earned his Masters’ Degree in Human Services Counseling with an Executive Leadership concentration from Liberty University. Described by a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer* as “extremely supportive, coupled with authenticity” and a “true leader”, Steve recognizes the importance of ongoing professional development. This is invaluable as he impacts corporate culture through both consultation and facilitation of development solutions for various organizations, teams and individual clients.
Steve earned his Masters’ Degree in Human Services Counseling with an Executive Leadership concentration from Liberty University. Described by a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer* as “extremely supportive, coupled with authenticity” and a “true leader”, Steve recognizes the importance of ongoing professional development. This is invaluable as he impacts corporate culture through both consultation and facilitation of development solutions for various organizations, teams and individual clients.
Karen Kimsey-Sward has over 25 years of experience working with a wide range of organizations helping them to move to the “next level” of performance. She’s known for her strategic yet practical approach to working with leaders at all levels to drive revenue growth, operational excellence and employee engagement. Karen brings a unique perspective to clients as a business owner who has been through all stages of a company’s life; from its founding through the various levels of growth.
Karen is Chief Operating Officer for Dale Carnegie Chicago. She is providing leadership, management and vision to create and sustain employee/customer engagement while ensuring profitable growth.
Previously, Karen was a Vice President of Franchising for the Americas with Dale Carnegie & Associates and worked with franchisees in all areas of their business. She provided leadership to identify opportunities, developed growth plans, recruited top talent, and executed marketing/sales strategies and training. She and her team served as internal business coaches to franchisees.
Prior to joining Dale Carnegie & Associates, Karen was co-founder and principal of Performance Potential Inc, a management consulting firm.
Karen was also an Executive Vice President/COO for FTR, a performance improvement company in Chicago. Over the years she held a variety of roles including: top producing salesperson, sales manager, business/sales coach, consultant and COO. She played a critical role in helping this organization achieve significant growth to become one of the top performance improvement companies in the Financial Services Industry.
Over the years, Karen has served on various Boards and is currently a Board Member for the SBAC.
Karen received her Bachelor of Business Administration/Marketing from Marshall University.
Leo Bottary is the founder and managing partner of Peernovation, LLC and co-founder of The One Advantage. An award-winning author of three books, including Peernovation: What Peer Advisory Groups Can Teach Us About Building High Performing Teams (2020), he is also a keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, adjunct professor for Rutgers University, Advisory Board Member/Opinion Columnist for CEOWORLD magazine, and co-host of The One Advantage podcast.
Leo’s first book, which he co-authored with former Vistage CEO Leon Shapiro, The Power of Peers: How the Company You Keep Drives Leadership Growth & Success (2016), explored how and why formal peer groups for CEOs and business leaders are so effective. His second book, What Anyone Can Do: How Surrounding Yourself with the Right People Will Drive Change, Opportunity, and Personal Growth (2018), examined the power of enlisting and engaging the complete circle of the people who surround us in both formal and informal settings.
Prior to teaching at Rutgers, Leo was an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University, where he led graduate-level online and on-campus learning teams studying leadership and strategic communication. In April 2015, he was named adjunct teacher of the year for Seton Hall’s College of Communication and the Arts.
Earlier in his career, Leo served in senior leadership positions at Mullen and Hill & Knowlton, where he was also director of client service for the US. In the mid-1990s, he founded a public relations agency that a leading trade publication hailed as a regional powerhouse, new media pioneer, and great place to work.
Leo earned a BA from Jacksonville University, an MA in Strategic Communication and Leadership from Seton Hall, and completed his doctoral coursework at Northeastern.
Bill Bertolet has 25+ years’ experience in the performance improvement industry supporting clients in multiple industries by helping them implement growth strategies. Key performance improvement areas include Sales, Leadership, Customer Relations, Team Building and Presentation Effectiveness. Companies include Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, BlackRock, Ace Hardware, Navistar, Simplex Grinnell, Microsoft, AT&T, etc. One common thing all these companies experience when working with Bill is that the return on investment always funds the professional services provided. Bill resides in Wyomissing PA.
Malcolm leads Ideal Outcomes’ communications across all platforms creating content and social media strategy.
A former award-winning international journalist, his career included a
two-year stint as Belfast bureau chief for London’s Daily Mirror.
He has authored or co-authored seven books published in nine languages by international giants such as Random House, Bantam Doubleday Dell, Ballantine Books, and St. Martin's Press.
Malcolm has also ghostwritten more than thirty books specializing in business and entrepreneurship, education, memoirs, and health and wellness. He has collaborated with owners of billion-dollar companies and startups, scientists, doctors, nutritionists and academics—and individuals with remarkable life stories.
In a separate career as an entrepreneur, he helped build a billion-dollar business and created innovative marketing concepts combining direct response television and direct sales.
Brett is an Investment Banker, Entrepreneur, a trainer and coach, and previously was a Fortune 500 Executive and U.S. Navy Officer.
Brett is the Founder of Coast Practical, Inc. and is a Partner (Investment Banker) at NewCap Partners in Los Angeles. Through this work, he leads Acquisitions and Capital Raise transactions. Throughout his business career, he has served as COO, CFO, and CEO as well as in many Board roles in a wide variety of organizations.
Brett’s expertise lies in navigating organizations through challenging times, whether this means dramatic revenue growth, a sale of the business itself, a capital raise, or a performance turnaround. Given this experience, he is quick with an occasionally funny and sometimes pertinent business story. Brett also volunteered his organizational development talent as a member on the Board of Trustees of the United States Naval Academy Alumni Association. He is a Servant Leader.
Brett has been a Corporate Trainer and Executive Coach since 2008. He is honored to have worked with several thousand participants, who have gone on to achieve impressive results for their organizations. He is Multi-Course Certified, helping companies and individuals within those companies develop and achieve their potential through improved Leadership, Sales, and Presentations. Previously, he helped U.S. Navy Captains launch Tomahawk missiles at bad guys worldwide. Most importantly, the people Brett has worked with most closely, from one of the five presidents of The Irvine Company to the Cal Tech-educated Executive Vice President at Siemens, to the recent High School graduate selling billiards tables, all agree on one thing, “Brett cares about you personally and wants you to win on your own terms.”
Previously, Brett was a turnaround General Manager at Cintas Corporation, where his team’s set safety, sales growth, customer satisfaction, and profitability records for the company, and an Officer in the United States Navy. He has consulted with many companies, including Intel Corporation, Experian, and AAA.
Brett holds an International M.B.A. from the University of Southern California (USC), an M.S. in Information Technology from the University of San Diego (USD), and a B.S. in Engineering from the United States Naval Academy (USNA).
Brett loves spending time with his young family in his adopted hometown of Huntington Beach, CA. He is a passionate outdoorsman and a former U.S. Navy Officer.